Environmental group urges no waste burn

Published:
27 August 2004

A Canadian environmental group is urging the province to deny a request from two companies that want to burn Blue Box materials and recyclable hazardous waste.

The Toronto Environmental Alliance has sent a letter to Environment Minister Leona Dombrowsky asking her to turn down proposals from Stelco and LaFarge Cement to burn paper, plastics, used tires and motor oil at their plants as a cheap ’’energy-from-waste’’ fuel substitute. The alliance fears such burning will harm people and the environment.

’’If these certificates of approval are approved, these industries will be allowed to release pollutants that can cause smog, climate change and acid rain, along with heavy metals and toxic chemicals such as dioxin and glycol, into our communities,’’ Shelly Petrie, the group’s executive director, said in a release Thursday.

Stelco’s application involves a blast furnace in Nanticoke, west of Hamilton, while LaFarge’s request pertains to its cement kiln on the shore of Lake Ontario, west of Kingston. The alliance is also worried that other companies across Ontario are poised to make similar applications.